The country's oldest Malay-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia and its sister publication Kosmo! would cease publication starting Wednesday until an undisclosed date, according to several staff members who spoke to Malaysiakini.
National Union of Journalists Malaysia's (NUJM) Utusan branch chairperson Mohd Taufek Abdul Razak told Malaysiakini his members were verbally informed of the matter this afternoon.
"We will work until Wednesday. After that, we close. No more operations.
"There was no black and white but we (NUJ Utusan) were informed by the staff, that they were informed by their bosses," said Taufek who is also NUJ Malaysia chairperson.
The latest development came barely hours after around 100 Utusan Malaysia staff and former staff held a picket outside their headquarters, demanding outstanding salaries and severance payments for the last three months.
However, its online operations would continue as usual. It is learnt that a staff meeting was held to inform them of the decision.
A source told Malaysiakini that Kosmo! editor Lokman Othman confirmed that the daily will cease publication on Wednesday during a briefing to his staff earlier today.
"Our last paper will be published the day after tomorrow, and on the front page, we will have a notice as well as on Utusan, that we will stop publication on Wednesday.
"Meaning tomorrow (Tuesday) we will work for the Wednesday publication, and then we don't have to work," said Lokman in a recording of the meeting that was made available to Malaysiakini.
According to sources, the staff were also informed that online publications for both the dailies will proceed, while their print editions remain suspended pending any discussions with new investors.
It was further indicated that any return of Utusan and Kosmo!'s print editions will only involve 120 staff members, down from the current 800.
It is understood that the matter was first communicated to Utusan and Kosmo!'s representatives present during a meeting with Utusan Melayu group executive chairperson Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir at the Human Resource Ministry in Putrajaya this morning.
Utusan Malaysia traces its roots to 1939 when it was first published as Utusan Melayu in Jawi. The romanised version Utusan Malaysia started publication on Sept 1, 1967. - Mkini
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